Lenten Campaign 2025
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St. Patrick’s Cathedral in the Diocese of Banmaw, Myanmar, was set ablaze and destroyed by members of the country’s military junta on March 16, Fides reported on Monday, March 17. The cathedral was thus destroyed right before the feast day of its patron.
Fides is the information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies.
The fire was set at 4 a.m. on Sunday, during operations in Banmaw conducted by the State Administration Council – the military junta presently ruling Myanmar – said Fides.
The cathedral’s rectory, diocesan offices, and schools were previously set on fire on February 26, the same source reported.
The cathedral building itself, which was still standing after the previous attack, was burned to the ground, a source in Banmaw told Radio Free Asia.
The Diocese of Banmaw consists of the northern part of the country. There are about 27,000 Catholics living within the diocese.
Myanmar has been in a state of civil war since 2021, when a military coup ousted the elected government. About 1.3% of the country is Catholic, and nearly 88% are Buddhist. Myanmar is also sometimes referred to as Burma.
Country of particular concern
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom lists Myanmar as a “country of particular concern” when it comes to religious freedom.
Since the start of the civil war, hundreds of religious buildings, including churches, mosques, and Buddhist monasteries, have been destroyed in airstrikes conducted by the military junta.
Earlier in March, the pastoral center of a Catholic church in the Diocese of Banmaw was bombed by the Burmese army.
On February 6, the country’s military junta bombed and destroyed the Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Mindat.
The attack occurred just days after Pope Francis created the Diocese of Mindat on January 25. Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church had been chosen to be the cathedral of the newly established diocese.
The news of the bombing did not come to light until almost a week later, Fides reported at the time.
About a week later, on February 14, a priest was murdered at the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes in the Archdiocese of Mandalay.
And today we celebrate...